There are few days as filled with hope as Monday.
Monday, you see, was opening day for Major League Baseball.
Jay Greeson
Bob Doak, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Cenvention and Visitors Bureau, talks to guests as a high-definition live video stream from the Tennessee Aquarium is unveiled in the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport lobby on Tuesday, Mar. 29, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Commissioner Tim Boyd's release of a comprehensive action plan for education and community investment last week wasn't going to please everyone, but it may help spur creation of a strategic plans for improving the beleaguered school district.
Yes, baseball has been passed by the NFL. And college football. And who knows how many other sports can claim a stake of being America's passion that once belonged to America's Pastime. (Insert America's Past Time joke here.)
But as the saying, hope springs eternal, the eternal hope of Spring comes in large part to the rebirth of opening day.
Whether you like the Padres or the Yankees, the terrible 1970s Braves teams or the lovable Cubbies who have flipped from chumps to champs, Monday was embraced as the full day of baseball beginnings.
Everyone can win it all on opening day, after all.
And that hope screams to the greatness of belief. And optimism. And to not handing the ball to Rick Mahler.
With the smile that hope brings and the light of starting fresh and optimistically, I couldn't help but think of how much a fresh start would mean for some of those around our fair city.
First, here's hoping that EPB, Dalton Utilities/Optilink and the campaign started by Chattanooga Adam McElhaney to protect our internet privacy become the norm and not the outlier. As this paper's Steve Johnson reported in Monday's TFP, McElhaney has raised more than $200,000 to potentially buy your or my or your Aunt Fran's internet history.
And if you think that's no big deal, well, you're wrong. Kudos to EPB and the Dalton provider for saying their customers' histories are not for sale and for McElhaney for making as much noise as possible about the issue.
Secondly, let's all hope that the young folks in our city can stop shooting each other. Last week made Chattanooga look like Dodge City back in the day or Chicago on a slow day. Either way, this is the biggest story that no one wants to discuss.
Finally, here's hoping that on an opening day, maybe Bob Doak and the Chattanooga Convention and Visitor's Bureau folks can get a restart.
If you are unaware, Doak is the president of the CVB and he and his organization are in the crosshairs of political accounting.
County Commissioner Tim Boyd, the head of the finance committee, has been asking pointed questions about how Doak and Co. are spending their roughly $7 million in money received from the county in hotel and motel taxes.
The questions are fair. This is not a witch hunt. Every elected official should look for accountability in every measure.
But, this has become the non-story that now is a big story.
Point A: The CVB gets around $7 million, which is around 1 percent of the annual county budget. For that limited investment, we all know how much tourism - the ultimate goal of the CVB - means to the number of folks working and operating downtown and all around our county. It's a great investment all things considered.
If you don't think so, know this: There is $7 million going to the CVB - and remember that is hotel and motel taxes, so it's not on you and me unless we are staying in one of the many great places downtown - and they are helping bring in $1 billion annually. A billion.
Now know that our school system gets more than $400 million in county funding and it's so broken that who knows what will happen next.
Still, the CVB's handling of information has inflated this from point of discussion into a genuine question of "What in the world is going on over there?"
Somewhere along the way, the decision making - whether it was Doak or his advisors - has gone terrible astray.
We all know where we are in the here and now. But imagine if this had unfolded:
* County commissioner raises questions about the CVB's spending. Which is fair and good government.
* CVB replies with a complete and detailed report of its spending and its books for the time in question. Remember kids, transparency is the secret elixir of the public realm.
* County commissioner asks about this expense or that, and the CVB answers that they are a $7-million operation that helps generate our billion-dollar tourism industry.
The lesson here, be it on opening day or your final day, should be that the appearance of cover up all too often is just as bad as the cover up itself.
Game on.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.